Pete's Paintball

by YellowBottle

Once again she finds herself face first in the dirt and waits for the inevitable pounding of paintballs to hit her in the back.

"Pete's Paintball!" The sign out front of the small building reads. Sara and her friends are excited to spend a few hours shooting at each other and had been planning this day for a few weeks now. Nervous is not an accurate enough word to describe what Sara's feeling; she pushes the door open holding it as each of her friends make their way inside. She has no idea what she's in for.

Together Sara and her friends line up inside the small entrance. There are signs behind the counter advertising various discounts such as 'bring fifteen friends and pay half price!' They also have a sign promoting the newest model gun that they have; it looks intimidating Sara thinks. Sara is so caught up in reading the signs that she fails to notice the girl sitting quietly behind the counter.

"Hey guys, group of six is it today?" The girl asks standing up to count the group. Sara rarely laid eyes on someone and could say they stole her breath but this girl was the exception; she was beautiful, around the same height as herself with striking dark eyes and a face so symmetrical it was almost hard to look at, except, Sara notices for her left ear which is adorably crooked compared to her right. Sara follows the shiny labret piercing that occupies the girls lower lip as she speaks until she realises she's being a creep and forces herself to pay attention.

"-Name's Tegan and I'm going to be your instructor today. So, what brings you guys paintballing on this fine afternoon?" She asks the group smiling brightly.

Ted standing on the far right, gestures to Sara. "It's her birthday so we thought we'd all do something fun," he grins.

The instructors' eyes follow until they land on Sara; her face heats up at having the attention of everyone in the room on her.

"Well then, Happy Birthday…?" She trails off waiting for a name.

"Sara," she answers quickly not wanting to leave her waiting awkwardly.

"Happy Birthday Sara, you're going to have a blast today and so are the rest of you." Tegan says to her friends, Sara admires her confidence in front of a group of strangers.

"Thanks," Sara mumbles shyly.

"Okay first of all is everybody playing?"

A chorus of yes' and an animated "Hell yes!" from Johnny are the reply and Tegan nods approvingly.

Hayley had been a little reluctant to play because she was nervous and Sara's happy to see she's made up her mind, it'll be much more fun having everyone play.

"Awesome! If you guys will just follow me I'll set you up so you can go kick some ass!" she says enthusiastically and Sara is charmed by her childish excitement, this is clearly someone who loves their job.

They're led into another room, bigger than the last. Tegan walks at the front with the guys following closely behind her, Sara can hear them discussing their tactics and how they're going to team up to win.

Meanwhile Sara is at the back with Hayley and Stacy. Hayley walks anxiously between them squeezing Sara's right arm and Stacy's left; it isn't helping Sara's nerves at all.

"Would you just relax," Stacy whispers elbowing Hayley in the side.

"I can't help it," she mumbles chewing the inside of her lip apprehensively. "I'm scared, what if I get hit? Or worse what if I hit one of you?"

"That's like the whole point of the game Hayley," Stacy points out.

"Yeah I know but-"

Stacy cuts off her nervous rambling. "Look I'll protect you okay? You can hide behind me and I'll take some hits for you or whatever, but only a few 'cause they're gonna hurt like a bitch."

Hayley laughs. "Thanks Stace, you're the best."

"I know," Stacy replies smugly.

"Who's gonna protect me? I'm the birthday girl," Sara asks, only kind of joking.

"Sorry Sara, you're on your own, I've already got someone to look after." Stacy laughs sounding anything but apologetic.

Bitch Sara thinks.

X

They all stand in a line wearing their new ugly camouflage jumpsuits that they've been assigned while Tegan walks in front addressing them, she marches back and forth and Sara is reminded of an army general commanding his soldiers.

"Okay rule number one: you must wear your mask at all times when on the field. You may only take your mask off when you are safely in the dead zone." A few confused looks and she quickly elaborates, "The dead zone is an area off of the field where you guys'll go after you're eliminated.

Rule number two, there will be no alcohol permitted on the premises and nobody will be allowed to play under the influence, I hope you are all sober," She eyes each of them with a penetrating stare and they all shuffle uncomfortably under her gaze until she lets up, satisfied that no one is drunk.

"There will be no blind firing, not only is it dangerous but it's also a waste of bullets and come on these things are expensive," she jokes and they all laugh in agreement, they are expensive.

"Allow your friends to surrender, don't be that guy and just shoot them because you can, and do not shoot anyone at less than 10 feet distance or you will be disqualified."

She's running through the list of rules quickly and Sara is trying hard to commit them to memory.

"Your gun must always be fit with a barrel plug when not in play, that means when you leave the field after a hit as well as between games and any other time you are not actively using your gun. Last of all have common sense. And remember have fun!" her bright demeanour returns at the end of her speech which had been surprisingly serious and stern for such a young employee.

The instructor goes on to hand them and assign their guns, masks and protective vests along with their paint balls, which, Sara notes are red. She shows each of them how to shoot and how to place their barrel plug in the nose of their gun when it is not in use. They decide to play an elimination game, once you've been hit you don't return to play until a new game has been started.

They all shuffle out into the sunlight, Sara a little behind the others. Her grip is shaking on her gun and she's not even sure whether she's actually holding it right, all she knows is that she needs to calm down, this is supposed to be enjoyable.

"Relax everyone and remember have fun!" Tegan stands on the sidelines with a whistle and on the count of three the sharp tone rings out. The game begins.

Five minutes later…

Sara lays on the ground, body aching. She can't bring herself to stand up and doesn't really think she could if she tried. Around her a whistle rings out and vaguely she can hear the game being paused because of her.

Three shots.

They ache and pulsate as if they have their own heartbeats. One is on her upper arm level with her collar bone, the second split the skin on her shin bone and the third is on her inner thigh, it's definitely the most painful and tears prickle the backs of her eyes threatening to spill over from the pain of it.

She lays face first on the ground, not daring to bring her head up whether from embarrassment or discomfort she isn't entirely sure. The sound of crunching leaves and approaching footsteps make themselves present and Sara wants to die. The strides stop just in front of her head.

"Hey you okay?"

Tegan.

Of course it's the charming young instructor.

A boot hits her shoulder and she realises startled that Tegan kicked her. She lets out a groan of embarrassment and hears a muted laugh in return.

"You know I'm used to having girls fall at my feet but this has to be some kind of a record," Tegan laughs, clearly not holding back her amusement at Sara's misfortune.

Despite her pain Sara can't help but think that Tegan is the cockiest person she has ever met. Another kick to the shoulder and Sara knows that she's right.

"Come on, do you think you can walk?" She's serious now, it's about time Sara thinks.

Sara just shakes her head refusing to look up.

"Do I have to kick you again?" Tegan asks, amused.

"Please don't kick me again," comes Sara's muffled reply from the dirt below her nose.

"Okay I won't kick you but I do have to get you off the field ok?" She's back to being professional and Sara appreciates it.

Raising both arms so that her palms lay flat against the dirt Sara manages to push herself up enough that she can make out Tegan's smirking face. The sun shines bright behind her, giving wind swept curls the appearance of gold and highlighting the sharp bone of her jaw. Sara takes a breath.

The movement makes her remember why she didn't want to get off the ground, her arm sends a shooting pain straight down her body.

"Ah fuck," the curse falls from her lips without consent but she can't bring herself to care, usually she tries not to swear in front of new people but under the circumstances she thinks this situation can be the exception.

"Here," Tegan kneels down in front of her reaching a hand in Sara's direction. The boots Tegan had kicked her with are now just centimetres from her face, they smell of leather and old paint and are about two sizes too big, something Sara finds herself admiring, only this girl could pull off awkwardly large boots and make it endearing, she wonders if perhaps they are her older brothers or fathers, the thought makes her grin, absent minded.

"Helooo?" A hand waves past her face and Sara snaps out of her musing. "You didn't get hit in the head did you?" Tegan asks, suddenly a little more alert as her eyes scan over Sara searching for anything she might have missed.

"N-no," Sara shakes her head, reaching out to accept Tegan's proffered palm that's been left hanging.

"Good, you had me worried there for a second," Tegan breathes, relieved. Tegan's hand tightens around her own and suddenly the pain from her injuries is less prevalent, her heart starts beating twice as fast and she is entirely aware of how clammy and gross her hand must feel to this poor girl.

"I'm gonna help pull you up now okay? I'm gonna walk you back to the dead zone so we can check out those nasty bruises." Sara finds herself nodding, not really listening to anything Tegan says. Her focus is on the shiny labret piercing that accents Tegan's bottom lip and the way her mouth curves just slightly to the right when she smirks.

Tegan takes Sara's gun from her left hand and raises it quickly above their heads.

"Hit!" She yells into the open terrain and Sara looks around trying to find her friends, they're all camouflaged and impossible to see but she hears them laugh and make playful snide comments at Tegan's shout.

"Yeah we got that," Stacy laughs from the right of Sara.

"I was the one who hit her! " Comes Ted's excited voice from the other side of the field.

"I hit her too!" Sean yells proudly.

"And me!" Hayley snickers.

They all aimed for her at the same time? What are the chances they would all be such good shots? Or maybe she's just bad at hiding…

"Geez thanks guys," Sara groans to their muffled chuckles as she lets Tegan lead her off towards the dead zone, walking is hard.

"No problem Sar! Now get your butt off so we can keep playing!" Hayley is way too into this.

They trudge their way through the thick leaves until they reach the protected area known as the dead zone. It's really just a small tin shed that has camouflaged nets hanging down the sides for protection, Sara has never been so happy to see a shitty shack in her life. She leans on Tegan for support as she limps her way through the door of the shed; it's getting hard to see through her mask as the perspiration fogs her vision.

"You can take that off now if you want," Tegan gestures to her mask. "You're starting to sound like Darth Vader in there," She laughs and Sara pulls the mask off, a blank expression on her face.

"Darth Vader," Tegan repeats, "you know Star Wars?"

Sara stares back confused.

"Oh god," Tegan mumbles, "anyway you can sit down on that chest there and I'll get the first aid kit," she points to a large wooden chest in the corner and Sara limps over to it, collapsing on the lid with all the grace of a three hundred pound gorilla.

Glancing around, the room is small and dim, it has one window where just enough light is getting through that she can see comfortably. Spare equipment lines the walls, there's a stack of guns resting in their holders while extra masks are strewn haphazardly about. Hoppers and extra containers of paintballs are kept in the chest next to the one she's sitting on and she can only imagine that hers holds the ugly camo gear they were all made to wear.

Tegan is rifling behind some gear in the corner attempting to reach the first aid kit and it reminds Sara that she was in pain just a moment ago.

Three times! They hit me three times! Assholes.

"Uhm don't you need to go help the others off the field?" Sara questions shyly.

"Nah," Tegan says as she finally locates the red and white kit with a triumphant grin. "I normally don't help anyone off the field, my job is mainly to enforce the rules and just keep an eye on everything. Basically I'm just an observer," She explains bringing the kit over next to Sara, kneeling before her with a smirk.

"Oh," Sara blushes. "Then why are you helping me?" She wonders scratching the back of her neck self-consciously.

"Well you weren't exactly getting up, and I couldn't let the game go on without you getting to safety," she states and lets out a chuckle as Sara's face darkens. "I'm an observer but I still have to get involved if someone is hurt."

"Sorry," Sara mutters, unable to make eye contact with Tegan so close.

"Don't be sorry, you can't help that your friends decided to ambush you." And then as an after thought, "Although I'm guessing you deserved it."

"I did not!" Sara looks up indignant only to realise that Tegan's messing with her, that maddening smirk that's becoming too much curling the corner of her lips.

"Okay whatever you say," Tegan shrugs with a wicked glint in her eye.

She's so cocky.

"Give us your leg," She grabs Sara's calf with both hands pulling it gently onto her lap. Tegan's calloused hands are warm through the material of her camo gear and it makes Sara flush hot under her collar and protective vest.

"Hope you don't have hairy legs!" Tegan jokes as she starts rolling up the leg of her pants where a spot of blood can be seen seeping through the material.

Sara laughs too but then pauses, momentarily panicked trying to remember when she actually did last shave.

They both watch attentively as the pale skin is revealed and Sara sighs a breath of relief when she sees her leg is smooth.

Thank god, that's all I'd need.

"Does it hurt?" Tegan asks looking through the kit for an antiseptic wipe.

"Not too bad," Sara replies trying to sound indifferent. The wound is the size of a large coin, blood has oozed its way down her leg and started to crust over; the surrounding skin is already taking on a purple hue.

"This is gross, I can do it if you like? You probably don't wanna deal with my leg being all bleedy and eww."

Sara cringes internally at her lack of eloquence.

Tegan laughs.

"Trust me I have had to deal with a lot worse than your gross bleedy leg, I once had a guy with a sprained ankle who I had to half carry back here on my own and then he insisted that his pants had to come off because they were 'hurting him,'" She raises her hands into air quotes.

"Ugh," Tegan shakes her head at the memory. "His ankle wasn't even hurt, I'm totally scarred for life, so gross."

"Wow I don't envy that," Sara says watching Tegan. Tegan gazes back at her, and there's something in her expression that Sara can't put a name on; it makes her nervous. But then it's gone just as quickly and that glint in her eyes is back with an evil grin to accompany it and Sara knows something is about to-

"Ow!" Tegan swipes the antiseptic swab right over the newly formed injury without any warning.

"Oops sorry I forgot to warn you," She says, calmly continuing to clean the blood from Sara's leg as if she hadn't just done that on purpose.

"You did that on purpose," Sara pouts.

"Yeah how else am I gonna clean your leg?" Tegan asks cheekily.

"God are you always like this?" Sara wonders exasperated.

"Like what?"

"A smart ass."

Tegan just shrugs ignoring the question and places a reasonably sized bandage on Sara's leg.

"Okay next, where else did they get you?" Tegan rolls Sara's pant leg back down and pats her knee, she shifts to find a more comfortable position on the ground.

"My arm," Sara says.

"Remind me not to be on your team if there's ever a zombie apocalypse," Tegan jokes. "Or maybe it would be an advantage, they would get to you before me."

Sara rolls her eyes, "You know I'm starting to think you're kind of a nerd."

"And what makes you say that?" Tegan quirks a challenging brow.

Sara thinks for a moment, "well you work with toy guns, mentioned something called star wars before which sounds super nerdy if you ask me and now you're talking about a zombie apocalypse. You tick all the boxes."

Tegan leans back on her heels readying to defend herself, "Okay First of all these are not toy guns, they hurt as i'm sure you've figured out and second Star wars is one of the greatest movies of all time and third it's always good to be prepared for zombies that's just common sense." Sara thinks her ranting is adorable.

"Okay I believe you," Sara replies sounding not at all convinced. She hears Tegan's frustrated exhale in return and resists the urge to giggle at her expense.

She begins to roll up her sleeve remembering her injury, the material however gets too tight and she realises she'll have to take her shirt off to get to the bruise. Her throat tightens and she dry swallows at the thought.

"I can't uhm get to it," she says quietly pointing to her arm.

"That's okay we'll just take your shirt off," Tegan says casually starting to reach for the buttons.

"Uh I don't have another shirt underneath is all," Sara says awkwardly all joking from a moment ago forgotten.

"Oh," Tegan says, her brain slow at picking up Sara's dilemma. A moment later, "oh!" as it dawns on her that Sara might not be comfortable with removing her shirt in front of a complete stranger. "That's okay just take off your vest and camo gear and then slip the vest back on, it'll cover most of you while I check out your arm."

Sara nods in agreement exhaling a shaky breath.

Tegan and Sara both stand, pausing momentarily to eye one another, a chill passes through the air and it makes the skin on Sara's neck tingle, or perhaps it's Tegan's close proximity.

"Do you mind if…?" Sara trails off gesturing for Tegan to turn around, when did this get so awkward?

"Oh right! Sorry!" Tegan apologises and Sara swears she sees a hint of red colour from Tegan's neck to the shells of her ears before she turns around. Good Sara thinks, it's about time she's the one to be embarrassed.

The vest is one of those open sided kinds, almost like a poncho but with the sides cut out. It slips over her head easily after undoing the Velcro straps. The buttons on her camo shirt are next and she rolls it down to sit neatly at her waist. Sara looks at her arm where there is now a huge welt, it looks angry and it's bigger than the one on her shin only it's not bleeding. Looking at it seems to make it hurt more so she quickly pulls the vest back over her head and does up the straps on the sides.

Tegan is still turned around so Sara takes the opportunity to look her up and down, she looks slim and tiny but Sara can't really be sure because of the huge camouflage jumpsuit she wears that practically engulfs her, along with her two sizes too big boots.

Does she own anything that actually fits her? Sara wonders.

"You'd better not be checking me out back there," comes Tegan's voice startling her.

"W-what! No I-I wasn't," Sara splutters, too quickly.

Way to sound guilty Sara.

"That's too bad," Tegan says, Sara can hear the smile in her voice. "Can I turn around now?"

Sara looks down at herself, her exposed arms and sides make her feel vulnerable and a little shy but at least she's covered she reasons.

"Uh yeah sure."

Tegan turns around and immediately her eyes skate across the newly exposed skin, it makes Sara feel hot, butterflies jump and fling themselves wildly within her stomach.

"Jesus have you ever seen the sun?" Tegan asks, she puts her hand to her forehead squinting as if she were blocking her vision from the glare.

Sara flushes pink, she knows she's pale but no matter what she just can't seem to get a tan, she either burns or reflects the sun, there is no in between.

"Shut up," Sara mumbles shyly.

"I'm just messing with ya," Tegan jokes moving forward to inspect Sara's arm.

Tegan stops just next to Sara, close enough that she can feel the heat that radiates off her body. Placing her palms directly on Sara's arm Tegan pulls it towards her, Sara's skin jolts at the contact and she lets out a tiny gasp that Tegan definitely hears as her smile grows ten fold.

Rough calloused hands examine the now blue and purple welt as Sara stands frozen to attention.

"Well I can't really do much for this one sorry," Tegan says, her breath tickling Sara's ear forcing a shiver to run down her spine. "It'll heal just fine on its own though."

"You mean I got undressed for nothing?" Sara asks, a hint of mischief in her eyes, she wonders briefly where the confidence came from.

"I wouldn't say it was for nothing," Tegan breathes, dare she say flirtatiously?

"You wouldn't?" Sara questions, blinking lust from her eyes and trying to control her breathing.

"Nope, how else would I have known you weren't bleeding all over my gear?" Tegan says nonchalantly totally ruining the moment they'd been sharing.

"Oh," Sara sighs trying not to sound too disappointed.

"And it's never a waste if I can get a girl to take her shirt off," She winks, she actually fucking winks. Where does anybody get this much confidence?

"Is that all the places you were hit?" Tegan asks brushing off her blatant flirting like it was nothing.

"Uhm one more place," Sara mutters.

"Wow your friends are assholes," Tegan says trying to hold back her amusement but failing miserably.

I know Sara thinks.

"Okay where is it?"

The newly formed bruise on her inner thigh makes its presence known, aching and stinging just to remind Sara exactly of its position.

"It's uh, you know what? I think I'm fine don't worry about it," Sara mumbles suddenly flustered.

"I have to worry about it, it's my job," Tegan says, still waiting expectantly.

"Technically it's not," Sara tries to argue.

"Look I'm not gonna hurt you okay? I promise."

"That's not what I'm worried about," Sara replies.

"Then what's wrong?" Tegan wonders genuinely confused.

"It's," Sara sighs in resignation. "It's here," She places her palm over the golf ball sized lump on her thigh.

Tegan's eyes follow her palm and then light up excitedly when they land on their destination.

"Why miss Sara, are you trying to seduce me?" She quirks a brow.

"W-what? No!" Sara defends hastily.

"Lets check out what we have here then" Tegan's mood has gone from playful to serious so many times in the last twenty minutes Sara is having trouble keeping up.

Tegan steps right up into Sara's personal space, their eyes lock as Tegan's hand trails softly down Sara's stomach until it reaches where Sara's palm covers the lump. It's both sensual and professional in a way that has Sara second guessing herself entirely. Their hands touch and Sara breathes a little deeper, she thinks Tegan does too but isn't entirely sure. Retracting her hand, Sara squints her eyes closed waiting for the inevitable pain to come when Tegan touches her injury. It aches a little as Tegan's curious fingers examine the lump, her hand lingers longer than necessary and perhaps wanders a little further than it should, Sara can't honestly say that she minds.

"Is that a golf ball in your pocket? Or are you just happy to see me?" Tegan whispers and it's so fucking corny that Sara can't help but laugh. It breaks the tension between them that had been so palpable just a moment ago and Tegan steps away to look through the first aid kit. "Well I'm happy and sad to announce that you won't need to take your pants off," she smirks. "I think you'll be just fine if you take some of these and sit out the rest of the game," Tegan finishes handing Sara some Panadol and gesturing for her to sit back on the chest.

"But my pants are hurting me," Sara jokes remembering Tegan's story from before.

"Well in that case-" Tegan is cut off when Ted suddenly rushes in.

"Damn I was doing so well! And then Hayley- she's totally lost her mind out there!" Ted blurts searching for extra paintballs to refill his hopper. He's got a bright red paint splatter on the left side of his chest, it reminds Sara eerily of blood. Ted hasn't even glanced at Sara yet and suddenly she remembers just how exposed she is. "I mean the girl's gone crazy!" Ted exclaims finally turning to face Sara and Tegan, who has taken a few hasty steps back.

"Oh-" Ted blushes at the sight of Sara and it's adorable how flustered he becomes. "Sorry I didn't realise you were uhm-" He can't seem to find the right word and instead kind of waves his arm in her direction while averting his eyes. "Are you okay though Sara?" He asks still not looking directly at her. "You got hit pretty hard out there."

"No thanks to you," Sara points out, not really mad but enjoying messing with him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realise we were all gonna aim for you at once," Ted seems sincerely apologetic.

"Na it's okay," Sara waves off the apology. "Tegan here has been looking after me anyway."

Ted glances at Tegan who has a sheepish grin on her face and is still a little pink around the ears.

"Well I'm glad you're okay, are you gonna play the next round?" He asks a little too hopefully, his eyes lighting up at the prospect, "I could protect you this time," he looks at his feet, "you know if you wanted me to that is."

"Maybe the one after," Sara answers. "I think I'm just gonna rest for a little longer."

He nods happily before going back to refilling his gun.

Tegan watches the interaction quietly, packing up the first aid kit and putting it away in its rightful place.

X

"Your friend seems sweet." Tegan states.

They're alone again and Sara is feeling a lot better than before, the pain is now just a dull ache reminding her at certain intervals that it's still there.

"Ted? Yeah he's harmless," Sara replies casually.

"He seems to really like you Sara," Tegan goes on cautiously, searching. "I mean, I can see why."

"You can see why what?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Tegan asks.

Their conversation is running in circles, much like Sara's head when she talks to Tegan.

"I guess not," Sara shrugs. "Care to explain it to me?"

Tegan just shakes her head, "that's not really my place."

"And what exactly is your place then?" Sara asks, a little frustrated with Tegan's dancing around the subject.

Tegan stands up, blinking as if she has just come out of a trance. "My place is to make sure that you're okay," she says. "And you are, so my job here is done, I need to get back out there," Tegan walks backwards throwing a thumb over her shoulder as she gestures towards the door.

"Wait! What am I supposed to do?" Sara asks frustrated. "Just sit here?"

"You can do whatever you want, do you want to go back out and play?"

Sara thinks about that for a moment, does she want to play? Her body still aches and pains from the first three shots but she certainly would like to get revenge on her friends.

"I think," Sara swallows nodding, "I think I wanna play."

Tegan's grin gets so big that her eyes squint and her gums become visible, Sara thinks it's cute, maybe just a little bit.

"But I need your help."

X

Tegan agreed to Sara's proposal with childish excitement and eyes that lit up with delight. She was to be Sara's body guard, it was only fair Sara conceded, Stacy was Hayley's protector and the boys had all joined together to beat the girls, plus Sara was already injured and was moving slower than her friends.

A little reluctant, Sara steps out of the dead zone. Hopper refilled and mask securely in place she glances at Tegan crouched in front of her checking that the coast is clear for them to move forward, she's taking their agreement very seriously Sara notices with a smile.

A hand signal from Tegan waves them forward and she moves quickly to follow, her leg burns where the bruise meets shifting material but she suppresses the pain and keeps her head low, extremely wary of being hit again.

The silence around them is eerie as they make their way to a tree with a large trunk, just enough cover for the both of them. Tegan turns to Sara and without words uses two fingers to point to her own eyes and then out past the tree into the distance, Sara understands and leans around the tree to see Tegan is pointing at Johnny, He's crouched down in a bushy shrub trying to remain as camouflaged as possible. Tegan gives her a look as if to ask, "Shoot him?"

Sara ducks back behind the tree giving Tegan an evil grin and a thumbs up.

Given the go ahead Tegan nods, resumes position, takes aim and in one loud pop! Takes out her target.

"What!? No fair!" Sara hears Johnny yell. Sara wants to laugh and congratulate Tegan on her aim but there's no time before Tegan is quickly hurrying them to safer ground.

"C'mon move!" Tegan says hastily as if they're in some kind of Rambo movie and the threat of the enemy really is life or death. She grabs Sara's hand not roughly and pulls her to get her moving. "The others know our position, quick!" They scramble together trying to get a footing on the loose ground, Tegan is a lot more graceful than Sara but she waits all the same. Glancing behind them Sara can see the red paint splatter against the tree they had just taken shelter behind as her friends she assumes it's Shaun and Ted try to avenge Johnny, thank god we moved she thinks relieved.

"Hit!" She hears Johnny yell and then watches him raise his gun above his head as he makes his way disappointedly towards the dead zone.

They slide down into another crouched position, this time behind a rock. This is really fun Sara thinks to herself as she watches Tegan scope out their surroundings. Tegan is really into this, Sara can tell she's had plenty of practice and really does love her job. The way Tegan moves so fluidly and with a dexterity Sara couldn't begin to replicate makes her think Tegan would be good in a different situation… She blushes at the crude thought and her mask gets a little foggier on the inside.

"Your friend with the red hair is good," Tegan pants close to her ear, snapping her out of her daze.

"Hayley, what do you mean?" Sara asks, embarrassingly more out of breath than Tegan.

"She's in a good position," Tegan flicks her gun to a spot in the distance. "She's on high ground but well hidden, it'll be nearly impossible for us to take her out from down here. Girl knows what she's doing," Tegan says sounding almost a little too impressed for Sara's liking.

More shots fire and Sara immediately ducks down not wanting to get hurt. Tegan does the same tucking behind the rock. A shout is heard and then "Hit!" It's Ted Sara thinks laughing.

A maniacal laugh is heard from the direction Tegan pointed in and she realises it's Hayley. "That's right Ted! Nobody messes with me!" She really has lost her mind Sara thinks amused. "Let that be a warning to everyone, I'm gonna kick your asses!" She laughs again and Sara can't help but laugh too at how much her friend has changed since the beginning of the game.

"What are we gonna do?" Sara asks trying to ignore the stray gunshots that fire around them.

"Who else is left?" Tegan counters.

"Well Johnny and Ted are both out, that leaves Hayley Stacy and Shaun," Sara counts on her fingers.

"Hayley is a no go for now," Tegan whispers. "She's too well hidden and from the sounds of it, just a little crazy," Tegan grins.

"I agree, how about Stacy? Hayley and Stacy teamed up so Hayley won't shoot her but she will shoot Shaun and that means we don't have to eliminate him, she'll do the work for us," Sara is surprised by how into this she's getting, her heart's pounding with excitement and she can't wait to take out their next target.

"That's it, now you're getting the hang of it!" Tegan nudges her in the shoulder excitedly and with a hiss Sara is reminded of the awful pain in her arm.

"Oh shit! Sorry!" Tegan apologises too loudly and the firing starts again.

"Is that where you're hiding Sara?" Hayley yells evilly.

"Fuck! Lets move."

They're off again rushing to find cover as the paint balls come firing after them. Hayley is a fantastic shot, but Tegan is a fantastic player. They move fluidly as if they're one, Tegan steps; Sara steps, Tegan crouches; Sara crouches. They create a rhythm and Sara feels entirely safe having Tegan as her leader, they narrowly avoid Hayley's shots and perhaps a few of Stacy's less than accurate ones as they collapse behind a fallen log. Correction, Sara collapses, Tegan squats gracefully.

Damn asthma! Sara curses as her breathing becomes laboured and she struggles to get much needed air.

"Woah you alright?" Tegan leans down with a hand on her shoulder.

Sara forces a nod and swallows determinedly, she's already lost one round, she isn't going to lose another.

Sara reaches a hand to pull the suffocating mask from her face when it is forced back down roughly.

"Rule number one: you must wear your mask at all times," Tegan states, and then a mumbled, "Sorry," As she realises she sounds like an ass.

"No it's okay, thanks," Sara smiles letting her know it isn't her fault, she's just doing her job and she cares about her safety. Sara feels warm inside.

A loud crack draws their attention as a tree branch breaks not five metres from them and they look up to see Shaun sprinting through the open field, gun held low and a serious expression on his face.

"Oh no," Tegan breathes.

"Oh no what?" Sara asks confused.

Then right on cue two guns fire and Shaun falls to the ground with a yelp, Sara can see the two paint splatters on his gear, one on his calf and the other on his lower abdomen, she cringes knowing exactly what it feels like and thanking the stars that this time it isn't her.

"That's like a basic rule, you don't want to find yourself in open terrain, you're an easy target," Tegan says. She's so smart, Sara admires, and so hot.

"I'll keep that in mind," Sara says, committing it to memory.

Shaun stands up, recovering a lot better than Sara did after she was hit and holding his gun above his head shouts, "Hit!" before half jogging half limping off towards the dead zone.

"Got ya!" Hayley's voice calls. "That leaves you Sara, and instructor Tegan, she can't protect you forever!" Sara vows to never play this again with Hayley, she's kind of terrifying. "Good shot Stace, you got him in the leg!" Hayley congratulates Stacy and Tegan's ears perk up for a response.

"Thanks!" Stacy replies proudly and Tegan gets an accurate location on Stacy's hide out. She covers her lips in a 'shh' gesture and then crawls low onto her belly doing an impressive army crawl towards the end of the log. Tegan looks like a sniper as she sets up her weapon while still on her belly one eye squinting to get the perfect shot. Sara stays crouched near Tegan's feet not daring to peek her head up to look for Stacy and risk a paintball to the head, regardless of the fact she has a mask protecting her.

"Shoot?" Tegan asks.

"Go for it!" Sara responds, like she needs my permission, still it's cute that she asks.

With that Tegan fires and all hell breaks loose.

Stacy cries out and Sara doesn't have a moment to listen for the usual "Hit!" Because Tegan has already got a grip on her arm and is pulling her in a crouched run towards a safer position.

"No!" Hayley yells upset at having her teammate taken out and begins firing like a mad woman at Sara and Tegan's retreating figures.

The paint balls are narrowly missing Sara, whizzing past her ears and making her wish she could crawl into a hole for safety but she knows they can't stop or they'll be out for sure.

Her lungs are tiring quickly though and Tegan's pace won't let up, she can't last much longer.

A tree root is her downfall, Tegan dives and rolls behind a tree just to her left but Sara isn't as lucky, Her foot catches underneath the root and she's ripped to the ground her knees slamming with painful force into the unforgiving earth. Once again she finds herself face first in the dirt and waits for the inevitable pounding of paintballs to hit her in the back.

They never come though and when she manages to pull herself up enough to see why, she gasps.

It's Tegan.

Tegan is standing between her and the firing paint bullets, She's got her hands up protecting her head but the rest of her is completely exposed to Hayley's onslaught.

"Tegan!" Sara scrambles to her knees as quick as she can muster.

Tegan turns her head for just a second, enough to shout, "Go!" And Sara doesn't think twice, She dives from behind Tegan to the safety of the tree Tegan had hidden behind moments before, panting and gasping for breath as her blood pulses rapidly through her body.

Tegan's frozen, splattered with red from the tips of her collar bones to the bend of her knees, Hayley has not gone easy on her and Sara can't help the anger she feels welling within her body.

"Stop Hayley! She's been hit enough!" The shots cease and by now Tegan is barely standing.

Gingerly she looks at Sara, "Go get her," Tegan whispers and even that looked like it hurt her to say. Slowly and carefully she raises her gun above her head and whimpers a quiet "Hit," before stumbling off towards the dead zone, not chancing a look back at Sara. Sara wants to follow, to run after her and heal her wounds just as Tegan did for her but she knows that the second she moves out into the open Hayley will hit her and Tegan's courageous sacrifice will have been for nothing,

Why did she protect me? Sara wonders to herself. She should have let me get hit and then taken Hayley out herself! She can't comprehend Tegan's behaviour and now isn't really the time anyway, she has to get revenge, has to avenge Tegan, she hopes she's okay.

Sara hugs her gun to her chest, clinging to it like a child would cling to their blanky. It occurs to her in this moment that she hasn't, not even once fired her gun apart from the couple of practice shots at the begininning. She panics; did she even remember how to do it? What if she can't even aim? Oh god Oh god!

"Come out Sara!" Hayley calls sweetly, It's a trick She thinks. "Come on, I won't even hit you, I'll let you surrender," Sara would take the offer if only it were real. She needs a plan, a way of getting to Hayley before Hayley gets to her, but how?

Her eyes have been unnecessarily scrunched shut and she finally takes a moment to open them looking around at her position, Tegan had brought them here, she knew exactly where Hayley had been camped out and brought them to the best possible place for taking out their target.

She can see Hayley, only just but it's definitely her, just the two of them. Hayley sits in the arch of a tree, plenty of coverage on both sides from leaves and branches and her gun rests in the Y of the branches to her right giving it perfect stability when shooting her targets.

That's it! Sara thinks excitedly. Hayley has her gun rested in such a way that if she were shot at from the side she wouldn't be able to get her gun out of the Y quick enough to pull it out and shoot back.

If Sara lays low on her belly just as Tegan had before she can aim effortlessly at Hayley. Bracing herself and summoning the courage from god knows where, she gets down low on the dirt. A loud shot goes off and it startles her whizzing past but it's at least 3 metres off from her current position. Hayley doesn't know where I am!

A couple more shots fire getting progressively closer, she needs to be quick.

Copying Tegan's technique when holding the gun she gets it into position and leans it against the tree for stability, she has a clear aim for Hayley's right leg that dangles just low enough below the leaves that she thinks she can get a clear shot.

"C'mon Sara you're no fun," Hayley calls out again and Sara can hear the pout in her friends voice. "Come play with me!" Sara feels as if she's in a thriller movie, hiding under the bed clutching a kitchen knife while she calls 911 only to have the power cut out, it's terrifying and she needs to make this shot so that her anxiety can go away.

"Okay Hayley," Sara breathes to herself, "I'll play."

She pulls the trigger and the mild jolt from the gun makes her heart leap into her throat, the paint bullet flies out at an unsettling speed and Sara watches with widening eyes as it slams into and then explodes on Hayley's leg.

"Yes!" She cries out relieved. I won! Sara can't believe it.

"Ouch!" Hayley whimpers and then, "Damn it!" As she realises she lost. Sara stays in her position just breathing for a couple moments to steady her heartbeat.

"Hit," Hayley mumbles jumping down from the tree and carrying her gun by her side back to the dead zone.

Thank god that's over Sara can't help but think. She wonders if Tegan will be proud of her for winning… oh shit Tegan!

She's sprinting back through the open field gun swinging at her side no longer having to fear getting shot, making her way back to Tegan.

X

"What the hell was that!?" Sara rips her mask off and shoves Hayley hard so that she stumbles against the wall behind her.

"Hey!" Hayley yelps surprised.

"Woah Sara, calm down," She hears Ted through her rage as he tries to calm her taking the gun strap off her shoulder and holding back her arms to prevent another swing.

They're all standing in the dead zone after the match, masks off and jumpsuits rolled around their waists to cool down. Tegan is nowhere to be seen.

"I won't calm down! She could have really hurt her!" Sara shouts angrily.

Hayley holds out her hands defensively, "I know! I already apologised to her and everyone, I didn't mean it I swear I don't know what came over me and I didn't realise how much the paintballs hurt!" Hayley rambles trying to calm Sara down.

Sara jerks roughly pulling herself free of Teds' grasp, she walks towards Hayley only to stop and stand intimidatingly in front of her, her breathing's harsh, enough that her nostrils flair with each exhale. Out of the corner of her eye she can see shaun, Ted and Johnny all move forward with her in case they need to hold her back again.

Hayley trembles under Sara's gaze, Sara isn't tall by any means but she's taller than Hayley and is using it to her advantage.

"Why are you so upset anyway?, It's just a game," Stacy says from Hayley's left side.

Sara takes a breath ready to explode and yell at them how it's not just a game and people can get seriously hurt, but perhaps she realises that's not the only reason she's angry and that the real reason she's upset is because she cares a little more than she should about Tegan even if she has only known her a mere few hours. They continue to stand there in a stalemate before Sara sighs dropping her shoulders and relaxing her attack stance, the anger seeps from her body replaced with a quiet defeat.

"I'm not, I'm sorry," she mumbles backing away from Hayley. The atmosphere immediately relaxes and Sara swears she can hear the group release a collective sigh.

"Where is she?"

The group just look at her and she feels like she's going crazy, answer me!

"Tegan," She repeats, "Where is she?"

Ted sighs, a sadness in his eyes that Sara doesn't really understand. "She's through there," He points to the main door that they first came through and Sara nods in thanks swallowing heavily as she makes her way through it.

What she finds is a whimpering mess that resembles nothing of the girl she first met. Tegan rests in the corner of the room, she's sitting on a plastic chair trying to remove her shirt, she pulls it up only to wince in pain and drop it again, she does it several times before she notices Sara's presence.

"I'm so so sorry, are you okay?" Sara moves towards her quickly, taking the shirt in her hands and helping Tegan to remove it.

Tegan lets her, holding back a whimper.

"Y-yeah, just never been hit that many times before," Tegan whispers and Sara wants to cry, she feels terrible.

Once the shirt is removed, Tegan remains in a sports bra. Under any other circumstances Sara would be marvelling at Tegan's taught and muscular body but instead she's marvelling at the incredible blues and purples and reds that mark Tegan's entire torso, the colours still blooming under her gaze. She gasps.

Tegan tries to pull her shirt back, "It's fine you, you don't need to see this, I'm fine."

"Why did you jump in the way? Why would you do that?" Sara asks, it should have been me.

"I was afraid you might die if you got hit again," Tegan tries to joke but it comes out sounding more pained than anything.

"Thank you," sara whispers sincerely, "You didn't have to, but thank you."

Tegan nods and that's all that needs to be said, they both know why she did it just like Sara knows why she would do it again.

X

Pete's Paintball is exactly as Sara remembers it from a week ago, the only difference being that instead of Tegan waiting politely behind the desk there is now a tall man with dark hair and kind eyes. He looks up at her, smiling as she approaches the counter.

"You're gonna have a hard time playing paintball by yourself little lady."

Sara smiles back at him politely, "Oh I'm not here to play, sorry." The name 'Pete' is written on his shiny plastic name tag and Sara concludes he must be the owner. "I was just wondering if I could possibly speak to one of your employee's?"

Pete leans back against the counter, a knowing grin on his lips, "Ah you must be here for Brad, he's out with a group at the moment but if you're willing to wait I can call him when he's finished?"

Sara doesn't know who Brad is and has no intention of finding out.

"Uh no thank you that's not necessary," she mumbles a little shyly, playing with her fingers. "I'm actually after a girl named Tegan?" She looks up hopefully.

"Tegan!" He says loudly, startling Sara a little as she moves a step back. His eyes narrow, scanning Sara's face; she blinks and looks away avoiding his gaze. "What's your name little missy?" Sara isn't sure she likes this man's nicknames but is willing to put up with them if it will get her closer to Tegan.

"Sara," She says.

"Oh you're the infamous Sara then?" He asks as if Sara has any clue to what he's talking about. She's starting to think he may have been hit in the head with one too many paintballs.

"Um I'm not sure…" She trails off uncomfortably.

"She's mentioned 'Sara' a couple hundred times now, at dinner… at breakfast… I was wondering when you would finally show up."

Tegan has talked about her? Her heart picks up its pace. But who is this man? Why is Tegan having dinner and breakfast with him?

"Is she here?" Sara leans up on her toes trying to see past his broad shoulders to the back room but is unsuccessful.

"Yeah, she's actually just having her lunch break at the moment." Sara's heart starts to beat wildly.

"Could I talk to her?" She asks quietly.

"Of course!" He booms excitedly and again Sara jumps in fright. If anyone were watching, their interaction would be comical.

"Thank you so much," Sara grins as Pete walks around the counter to show her the way.

"Not a problem," He smiles back, his kind eyes crinkling at the corners. "But I am her dad so you better be nice to her." He says it jokingly but there is a definite air of protectiveness in his voice that Sara picks up on.

Oh! He's her dad, Sara realises. Now that she takes a better look at him she can see why he has kind eyes. Tegan has the same ones.

"I wouldn't ever hurt her sir," Sara says sincerely, suddenly a little anxious to impress this man.

It seems to work as his grin softens, "You seem like a nice girl, Tegan needs someone like you." What exactly does he mean by that? Before she can really question him though, they come to a door and Pete nods towards it, "She's just in there." He places a large palm on her shoulder and ruffles her affectionately before turning on his heel back down the hallway.

"Thank you!" Sara calls again to his back and he just nods with a laugh continuing on his way.

X

Sara can't describe what she felt for Tegan on that day a week ago all she knows is that she wants to see her again, to feel that connection and to see how Tegan's holding up after Hayley's onslaught, she never really got the chance after they finished their game and Sara had been holding a subconscious grudge against Hayley ever since.

Sara turns her attention to the door. She'd been so anxious to see Tegan again that now she's actually here, she's nervous. Her palms sweat and she fidgets on the spot as she brings her fist up to make two quiet knocks.

"Come in!" She hears Tegan call from inside

It sends another lurch of nervous energy through her body and she steps into the room cautiously. Tegan sits at the lunch table with messy hair and a little bit of pasta sauce on her chin. She's wearing her green jump suit rolled to her waist and a baggy grey superman T-shirt to go with it. She's adorable and Sara almost forgets to breathe.

"W-wha?" Tegan stutters when she sees who has walked into the break room. She stands up abruptly and her chair falls backwards behind her, she picks it up again and diverts her attention back to Sara with a blush.

"Is that how you greet people?" Sara smirks, happy to have the upper hand for once, though it's all false confidence.

"I-" Tegan swallows and tries again. "What are you doing here?" Realising that was kind of rude she shakes her head at herself, "I mean hey, how are you?" She rubs the back of her neck awkwardly, trying not to seem like a loser. Sara watches as her labret piercing is sucked into her mouth.

"Can I join you, Superman?" Sara's kind of pushing it, she did show up unannounced after all.

Tegan looks down at her superman shirt and blushes a deeper shade of scarlet. "Um yeah, yeah of course, sit down." She pulls out the seat across from her own and waits for Sara to be seated before taking her place once again.

The room is small and mostly white. There's a television playing the news in the corner as well as a mini fridge and a microwave.

"You came back," Tegan whispers like she almost can't believe Sara is really here.

"Yeah," This time it's Sara's turn to blush and she looks down at the scuffed edge of the table where she's begun to pick nervously. "I wanted to make sure you were okay after what Hayley did. I'm so sorry about that by the way, I nearly killed her afterwards, the boys had to hold me back."

"I'm okay," Tegan grins that sly gummy grin that she has and Sara sees that she's turning back into smart ass confident Tegan. "I'm pretty tough you know, a few bruises aren't gonna stop me."

"There were more than just a few," Sara points out.

"Okay yeah," Tegan concedes. "But I am healing up nicely, my belly kind of looked like a galaxy for a while there, it was pretty cool."

Sara smiles at Tegan's adorable use of the word belly instead of stomach. She's glad Tegan is okay and that she can finally put her mind at ease.

"You're such a nerd," She says playfully.

"I am not!" Tegan grins.

Sara looks at Tegan pointedly and then at her superman shirt, Tegan just sighs accepting Sara's point.

"I still don't understand why you did that for me though," Sara mumbles. Although she's hoping she has an idea.

"Like I said, you might have died if you got hit again," Tegan laughs.

"I would not!" Sara smiles. She keeps getting distracted by the pasta sauce on Tegan's chin, her eyes keep dancing there as a focal point. "Your dad is really nice by the way."

"Yeah," Tegan says. "He's pretty cool, a bit weird at times but I love him."

"He says you might have mentioned me just a couple times," she says teasingly, testing the waters.

Tegan goes another shade of red and if Sara weren't enjoying this so much she might actually feel bad. She likes being the cocky one.

"Oh my god," Tegan mutters covering her face with her palms out of embarrassment.

"It's okay," Sara says and places a brave palm over Tegan's own that covers her face. She brings them down towards the table and Tegan looks back at her with eyes wide as saucers. Sara's heart is beating wildly and she can't help but think how beautiful Tegan is. Even with messy hair and sauce on her face. She decides to go for it. "You got a little…" She reaches out and wipes the sauce off Tegan's chin with her thumb then licks it off, tasting the sweet saltiness.

That was a really bold move, especially for Sara. When she looks up Tegan is just staring back at her stunned and Sara starts to panic, What if she doesn't like me!? Oh god what did I just do? That was so stupid.

"I'm so sorry," Sara says hastily, standing up. "I don't know why I- That was so inappropriate, I'm sorry, I'll go now."

She starts backing out of the door when Tegan jumps up quickly to grab her palm. "No, wait!"

Sara stops and looks at their hands.

Tegan lets go and then looks up at her. "Please, don't go."

"I don't know why I did that. Can we just start again? I shouldn't have-" It only takes ten minutes in a room with Tegan for Sara to revert back to the mumbling idiot she was the first day they met.

"I'm glad you did," Tegan says. "It was hot," She laughs but her blush gives her away.

"Really?" Sara breathes.

Somehow they had gotten closer. So close in fact that Sara can see each individual eyelash that shapes Tegan's pretty eyes and the small imperfections on her skin.

"Yeah," Tegan breathes back and then she's leaning towards Sara, her eyes closing on instinct.

Sara leans forward too and they're so, so close.

"Tegan!" Pete yells from the corridor. It startles them and they spring apart guiltily. "Lunch is over, come take this group through!"

They look at each other awkwardly. Tegan grumbles something under her breath that sounds remarkably like, "Cock blocked by my dad." And Sara uses all of her will power to keep from laughing.

"I gotta," Tegan steps around Sara and points a thumb over her shoulder.

Sara nods with a cheesy grin. "Go save the world, Superman."

Tegan beams and steps out of sight into the corridor. Sara's shoulders sag and she breathes a sigh of relief as she finally starts to calm down.

Then, there's a flash of movement and Sara only has a moment to look up in surprise before she feels Tegan's lips on hers in the sweetest little kiss. They're gone in an instant and Sara is left stunned.

"Tegan!" Pete yells.

"I'm coming!"

The last thing Sara sees is Tegan's smug smile before she's gone.